Attitudes toward service robots: analyses of explicit and implicit attitudes based on anthropomorphism and construal level theory
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 13 October 2021
Issue publication date: 17 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Building on both the uncanny valley and construal level theories, the analyses detailed in this paper aims to address customers’ explicit and implicit attitudes toward various service robots, categorized by the degree of their human-like appearance, namely, mechanoids (low human-likeness), humanoids (medium human-likeness) and realistic robots (high human-likeness).
Design/methodology/approach
The analyses reflect a mixed-method approach, across three studies. A qualitative study uses focus groups to identify consensual attitudes. An experiment measures self-reported, explicit attitudes toward the three categories of robots. Another experiment explores customers’ implicit attitudes (unconscious and unintentional) toward robots, using three implicit association tests.
Findings
Customers express both positive and negative attitudes toward service robots. The realistic robots lead to both explicit and implicit negative attitudes, suggesting that customers tend to reject these robots in frontline service settings. Robots with lower human-likeness levels generate relatively more positive attitudes and are accepted to nearly the same extent as human employees in hospitality and tourism contexts.
Practical implications
Because customers reject, both consciously and unconsciously, very human-like robots in service encounters, managers should leverage this key finding, along with the more detailed results, to inform their strategic introduction of robots into hospitality frontline service settings.
Originality/value
The combined qualitative and quantitative studies specify and clarify customers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward robots with different levels of human-likeness, in the real-world setting of hospitality and tourism services. Such insights can inform continued research into the effects of these service innovations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Grant PID2019-105468RB-I00; European Social Fund and the Government of Aragon pre-doctoral grants C135/2017 and CUS/581/2020.
Citation
Akdim, K., Belanche, D. and Flavián, M. (2023), "Attitudes toward service robots: analyses of explicit and implicit attitudes based on anthropomorphism and construal level theory", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 35 No. 8, pp. 2816-2837. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2020-1406
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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